A WORD FOR TODAY, July 8, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, July 8, 2025
He said, ‘I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me. I said, “I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.” The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever; yet you have brought my life up from the pit, Yahweh my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple. Those who regard vain idols forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.” Jonah 2:2-9
God spoke to Jonah and told him to go to Ninevah to warn the people to repent and turn to the LORD. Jonah did not like the people of Ninevah, for they were his enemies, and he wanted them to be destroyed. So, instead of obeying the Word of God, he ran away by hiding on a merchant ship that was going to Tarshish, which was the opposite direction.
It is impossible to hide from the LORD. God sent a storm so terrifying that even the sailors were afraid. Jonah knew that the high waves rocking the boat were a punishment for his disobedience. He told the sailors that the storm would stop if they threw him overboard. They did not want to have his blood of a man on their hands, so they tried to row back to shore. They were unable, so they cried out to God asking that He not make them accountable for Jonah’s life. Then they threw him over the side of the boat into the raging ocean. The storm stopped and the ocean became calm. They feared the power of the God of Jonah so much that they offered Him sacrifice and worshipped Him.
God sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah sat in the belly of this great fish for three days and three nights; he prayed the prayer in today’s passage, repenting and seeking forgiveness. With this prayer, God made the fish spit Jonah out and renewed the command to Jonah to go to Ninevah. Jonah went reluctantly and preached a message of repentance to the people. They believed God and responded immediately. Even the king tore his royal clothes, put on sackcloth, and sat in the dust to mourn. He issued a decree for the city to fast, give up their evil ways, and turn to God in the hope that He will forgive their sins and stop the destruction.
God had compassion, forgave the people of Nineveh, and did not send destruction to Ninevah. Jonah was angry at God for his compassion and told Him that was the reason he ran away in the first place. “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” Jonah asked God to take his life, because even death was better to him than seeing his enemy in the favor of God.
Do we ever feel this way? Are there any people who are like enemies that you would rather see perish than share the Gospel? Did you run away from God’s command? God commands us to go and preach the Good News to the world. Sometimes that means going to people we’d rather avoid. We can’t pick and choose those we want to call to repentance so that they might be saved. We must go and do according to God’s Word. If you try to hide from God, you might just end up like Jonah, in the belly of a big fish.
We aren’t different than Jonah. Sometimes we fail to walk as God commands, ignoring or rejecting the work He is calling us to do, refusing the share the Gospel with those we don’t want to be saved. Thankfully God’s grace is for everyone, even us when we fail. Like Jonah, we can receive God’s forgiveness and sing His praises, knowing that His grace comes with repentance and our willing commitment to do His work.
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org